Thiruvananthapuram : Unlike the 46 Indian nurses stranded in northern Iraqi town of Tikrit, others, mostly from Kerala, are content working in Baghdad. They said Thursday their lives are “normal” even after Sunni insurgents have overrun many parts of the country.
Speaking to IANS over phone from Baghdad, a Kerala nurse said, “… while there is heavy checking, life is normal.”
She said she lives in a complex at the Baghdad Medical City where there are 15 hospitals.
“Since we live inside (the complex), there is no reason for us to feel unsafe. Our Iraqi colleagues tell us that so far they have not been affected at all. They say that in the evening, they go out with their families,” she said, adding Baghdad Medical City is around 15 minutes’ drive from the Baghdad airport.
“The only difference is that there is lot of security…,” said the nurse, who did not wish to be identified.
She said there are 74 nurses from India who work in the complex and 73 of them are from Kerala. They all arrived in Iraq early this year.
Another nurse from Kerala who works in the Karbala region, around 70 km from the Baghdad airport, also said things are normal there as before.
She rebutted the notion that all parts of Iraq are reeling under insurgents’ attack.
“Some TV channels back home are trying to generalise the issue here, which is not the truth. They went to my home in Kerala, and as parents are possessive, when they hear of trouble they feel that the entire country is affected.”
“In our case, we do not have any issue at all. The management of our hospital has assured that things are normal and there is no need to worry at all,” said the nurse, who too did not wish to be identified.
Speaking to IANS over phone from Tikrit, the hometown of deposed and executed Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein now under control of Sunni militants, a Kerala nurse, however, said she and others are worried.
“Today also the embassy officials called up and said that the roads towards the airport are still not clear. They have assured us that once things are clear, they will ensure that we return to India,” she said.
The 46 Kerala nurses stranded in strife-torn Tikrit town in northern Iraq’s Nineveh province Wednesday asked the Indian embassy officials to either take them home or change their place of work.